Homecoming will soon have a whole new meaning for UAB alumni. The National Alumni Society (NAS) pledged the first $1.2 million to launch a building campaign for the new UAB National Alumni Society House, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010.

The building, approximately 15,000 gross square feet, will be located at 1001 13th Street South. In addition to housing staff offices for UAB Alumni Affairs, the space will accommodate some 200 to 300 people for luncheons, dinners, receptions, and board and chapter meetings, with adequate parking for daytime and evening events. A large reception area will allow many events to be held on campus that have had to be held elsewhere in the past.

According to Rebecca V. Watson, associate vice president for alumni affairs and annual giving, the Alumni House will “be a symbol to our students of the viability of our organization and will allow us to better show them how important it is to stay involved after graduation.”

Current NAS president Cindy Godwin says the NAS wanted to give the initial funds “so that we could have the right to name the building. That was very important to us.”

Tommie G. Cummings, a partner and member of the executive committee of Frost Cummings Tidwell Group LLC and past NAS president, says that the NAS past presidents made a contribution to name the gathering room at the Alumni House. She says that the addition of this facility “indicates UAB’s interest in its alumni and sets the tone that once you are in the UAB family, you remain in the UAB family.”

For more information on how you can support this initiative, contact Rebecca Watson at (205) 934-3557 or bvwatson@uab.edu.